The Hunt
by LoadedTrapeze
Summary: A girl goes from school to school, leaving dead loved ones behind her every time. Will Sky High be different? Will her new friends help her through? WarrenOC LashOCtwistedheartbreak Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High nor it's characters.
1. The Zoo

I would just like to point out that this is just the beginning of the story so if you find it a tad bland or obvious than just wait. It should develop past that point by the fourth chapter (don't worry, the chapters aren't that big as of yet).

To my anonymous reviewer Zang, thanks for the review! I know it doesn't seem original yet, but I always use the first two chapters to set the settings and whatnot. Hopefully you'll keep reading and keep me up to date on your opinion. :)

**The Zoo**

Draven Crossmyr stepped back from the corner as the bus came to a stop in front of her. The wind of the doors opening blew her blue ankle length skirt all around her, leaving her feeling insecure as she stood there. She fidgeted in her combat boots as she adjusted her black corset before stepping inside.

'In a single year, my _senior_ year, I've been to two other schools already.' She went to the back of the bus and sat alone, trying to not pay attention to all of the unwanted stares. 'You'd think I'd be used to this by now.'

Draven had begun to notice a boy sitting across from her. He was sitting alone, reading. She was going to move to get a better look at him when some freshman sat in front of her.

He sat there and just stared.

"Can I help you with something, kid?"

"You're new here."

"You're observant."

"Where do you live?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"Because. My big brother over there wants me to ask." He pointed to a small nerdy, orange haired guy. "He says he's teaching me the ropes."

"I see. Well, why don't we go say hi?" As they moved to get up a guy went passed them to sit with the lone book reader.

"Hey Warren."

"Hey, Stronghold." She heard them say.

Walking over to the nerd she made his brother sit beside him.

"I live just to the south of town, near the Paper Lantern. Need me to be more specific?" Her voice rose in volume and suddenly she seemed to have an audience. "Right between 'GoFuckYourself' Way and 'EatMe' Boulevard."

"Ah, you must be originally from the Amazon. 'Cause that sounded pretty hot." Draven stared at him blankly.

"What's your name."

"Names Larry." He smirked at her.

"Larry?" She smiled and her voice went sweet. "The Amazon?" She began to laugh. "That is just so random! What? Did you pull that out of your ass, too? Or was that just your face?" She pinched his cheek. "Good-bye, Larry."

She began walking back to her seat when somebody attempted to trip her. She looked back to see a blonde in a blue tube top and a mini skirt laughing at her.

"Watch it freak." Draven glared at her.

"What's it to you, Malibu Stacey?" The blonde scoffed in disgust.

"Larry happens to be my boyfriend."

Draven stared from Larry to the blonde. "I'm not sure who I feel sorry for more." She made her way back to her seat.

As she finally sat she noticed those guys from across looking at her. 'That Warren guy is discrete, but his Stronghold friend must have a mental deficiency.'

Draven turned to him and gave him a questioning look.

"I'm Will Stronghold." He shook her hand. "Super strength and flight."

"Uh huh." She looked over at Warren.

"This is Warren Peace. He's a pyro." Warren looked up but didn't say a word. "And you are?"

"Draven Crossmy. Telekinetic."

"Really? I've never met a telekinetic before." Draven stared at the book in Warrens hand as it started to float up in the air. "Now you have." He flipped it upside down and put it back in his hands.

Warren stared at her with an irritated look and she smiled back at him with a 'Try Me' attitude in her eyes.

"Cool." Will said. "So, you just transferred, right? Where from?"

"From thius place in Detroit, and before that it was Montreal."

"Man... must be hard on you and your parents."

"Yeah... my parenst... they died back in Montreal."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Draven. Your grandparents, then?"

"My grandfather. Died back in Detroit." She looked down momentarily willing herself not to cry. "I live alone now." She hadn't stopped to think about it, and she wouldn't start on her first day at a new school.

"Oh... well... how about you come over for dinner tonight? Living alone after a rough day at school, it would be better for a friend to make dinner than to do it yourself."

"Thanks, but you haven't known me long enough to see me as a friend. And besides, I have a job interview."

A few moments later two girls came on the bus and headed towards the back. One, the purple one, sat with a white haired kid in front of Will and Warren. The other, the green one, went right up to Will and kissed him.

"Hey! I wondered where you were." He stared at her fondly.

"I slept over at Magentas' last night." She looked at Draven and her smile widened. "Hi! I'm Layla!"

"Draven."

"Nice to meet you!"

"Yeah."

"Will, is there any way we can sit together? I've missed you!" Will looked around.

"I don't know. Draven, would you mind sitting with Warren?"

Warren looked up at Draven, watching her as she shrugged.

"Just don't kill each other." Will told them as he and Draven switched seats.

"Oh, don't worry, we'll be just fine and dandy. The best of friends." She sat down and patted Warren on the shoulder. "Right?" Warren scowled at her and went back to reading. "Precisely."

She looked over at Will and Layla, seeing them engulfed in one another.

"War, there's one thing I've learnt from going to a handful of schools. People are the same wherever you are." Her eyes roamed the bus. "Animals of all kinds."


	2. Paper Lantern in Disgrace

**Paper Lantern in Disgrace**

The bus came to a stop.

"Bye Draven!!" Layla screamed from her seat in the back, a huge smile plastered on her face.

Draven waved slightly and walked out, hearing another giddy farewell from Layla. Confused, she turned around to see who else had gotten off at her stop.

'I was told I was the only one for this stop. Who-?' Warren was walking towards her.

"What are you doing here? I was told I was the only person for this top."

"Not that it's any of your business, but it's the fastest way to get to work. Told the boss I'd help out with something right after school."

"Alright, well, I'd love to stay and chat but I have an interview to prepare for. Have fun, Mr Peace!" Draven turned and walked into her medium sized house, looking at her freshly unpacked things. Checking out her watch she decided to hurry to get ready for the interview.

She skipped a shower. Instead just washing off her makeup, letting her hair down, and spraying herself with perfume. She slipped on a pair of jeans, and a fairly casual t-shirt. Nothing too ratty, but nothing too strict.

'Need o make a good impression in a job interview.'

Putting on a pair of sneakers, she ran out the door and won the road, closing the door behind her with a single thought.

'One block down, two blocks over. One block down, two blocks over.' Her pace quickening, she checked her watch. 'A block and a half over...'

Suddenly she was in front of her new place of business. Well... her _hopeful_ new place of business.

She let out a sigh as her muscles began to tense.

"The Paper Lantern." She said to herself as she stepped inside.

Looking around there was nobody to be seen. A little bit of steam came from the kitchen, and that seemed to be the only movement in the place.

"Hello?" No sound, no movement. Draven began to get incredibly nervous. Her throat began to close and her chest felt tight. Fear crept up her spine. "He-hell-o?" She croaked out.

An ominous laugh filled the air. A cackle so perverse and unique as to only belong to one person.

'A horrible person.' Draven was overwhelmed by the urge to cry. Far took over, spreading into her lungs and limbs and brains. She fought the tears about to fall.

She saw a hazy figure running towards her. Grabbing her as she fell. The strange mans grip on her made her panic, but there was nothing she could do.

A tear fell from her eye.

Draven passed out cold in the middle of the Paper Lantern.


	3. My Knight in Shining Fortune Cookies

**My Knight in Shining Fortune Cookies**

"Come on, Crossmyr. Get up." A gruff voice screamed from the world above.

Draven felt an icy sting on her face. Her eyes began to flutter and she realized it was water.

As her mind started to come back to reality, she took notice of her surroundings.

Her head was not on a cold hard floor like it should be, but on a soft warm surface. Her limbs were not sprawled in every direction from falling, but rather were at her sides.

The icy sting fell on her again, accept this time on her neck. Once the water touched her skin it had a more distinctive feeling. The coldness made her senses jump and Draven sprung up in a panic.

Feeling a pair of strong hands on her she tried to fight, but they pressed her back down to the lying position. She shut her eyes tight.

"Calm down, Crossmyr. It's just me." The hands on her relaxed slightly but stayed where they were. Hearing the soothing voice Draven opened her eyes. "It's Warren Peace."

"What?" Blinking a few times to make the haziness go away, Draven tried to sit up. Warren kept her down.

"You probably shouldn't get up just yet." Draven stared up at Warren, his face hovering just above hers. Every one of his facial features were visible because he had his hair tied back. She got an unobstructed view of his eyes, which sent butterflies zooming off in her stomach in every possible direction.

Forcing them to go away, she finally managed to speak.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I was just coming out of the bathroom when I saw you falling."

"And so you took responsibility in becoming my human pillow?" Draven looked up at him from his lap and smirked. "Thanks. You're pretty comfortable."

"Yeah, well... don't spread it around."

"I think I'll keep this one to myself." She laughed. "Not that I wouldn't love to spend eternity in your lap, but can I get up now?"

"You can sit up a little, but no standing yet."

They began to change positions. Warren helped Draven sit up and placed one of his knees behind her for support.

"Thanks."

"No problem. You don't do this often do you?"

"What, lay in various positions with strange men on the floor?" She smiled at him. "Oh, yeah! All the time!"

"Just thought I'd ask. I had to start the interview somehow."

'Oh shit.' Her eyes went wide.

"You're...? Oh sh-... I never faint. I don't know why it happened."

"Are you sure you aren't going to faint on the job?"

"Positive."

"Great. You're hired." Warren helped her up and walked in to the back room. "We're pretty short staffed, so as long as you don't faint all the time and sue us for it, you got the job."

"Really? That's... thanks, War!" She saw him through the opening to the kitchen. "Does this make you my boss?" Leaning in the little window she smiled at him.

"No. I'm just your co-worker."

"Aw, shucks!" She pouted jokingly. "I would have had so much fun black mailing my boss, MrToughGuy, about being a regular knight in shining fortune cookies." Leaning through she grabbed the towel from around his neck and dried herself off.

Warren stared at her, not sure what he should be thinking or feeling at the moment.

"I've never had an interview while lying on the floor, before."

Warren smirked. "Me either." He watched her as she smiled brightly.

"Thanks again for the job."

"It's no problem. Besides, from what I heard this morning on the bus I figured you could use one."

A wave of shock came over Draven. "You were listening?"


	4. Trust Issues

**Trust Issues**

A slender woman walked into the classroom and made her way towards Mr Medulla. After she whispered something into his ear she stood facing the class as he spoke.

"Miss Crossmyr you are wanted in Mrs Powers office." Draven got up from her seat in the back of the classroom and began to pack her things, looking at Will and Warren sitting up ahead of her. She almost wished she had a lab partner to whisper sarcastic remarks to.

'Almost, but not quite.'

"And Mr Peace, seeing as the class is almost over and she's new, you're requested to go with."

The woman began to lead the way, with Draven and Warren tagging along behind her.

Draven leant over to whisper to him, getting so close that all she could smell was his cologne. The pleasant smell caught her off guard, but she soon came to her senses and spoke. Letting out an over-exaggerated sigh.

"Must they always insist on pulling me out of my favourite class? Geez. The nerve of these people."

Warren didn't speak or make any notion that he had heard her.

"Did I do something wrong?" When Warren didn't answer she grabbed his arm. "If you're pissed about something you should at least have the nerve to say something about it." The slender woman turned and shushed them.

"I don't trust you." He said coldly.

"You seemed to trust me enough when you hired me."

"That's a job, this is people lives."

"People? You mean your friends? Why would I want to hurt your friends?"

"Their very… loving people. They tend to care about people a little too much."

"And you think I'd use that to some kind of sick advantage?" She curled her knuckles and cracked them slowly.

"I don't trust you."

"You don't have to!" The woman before them turned again and scowled. Dravens voice went down to a whisper. "Look, I'm not searching for more friends. I don't want yours. The only thing that I'm even talking to them for is help in classes."

"I still don't trust you."

"Yeah, so you've said. But take a chill pill, Warren! You have smart friends, they can take care of themselves! Besides, I'm not _that_ bad."

They began to walk in silence. Warren starred ahead of him, and Draven stared into classrooms.

Passing by a classroom, the subject of which was unknown to Draven, she quickly saw Lash make some kind of vulgar gesture. Stopping and taking a double take she took a closer look.

'Is that the middle finger?' He smiled at her as she glared daggers. 'What an ass.' With a twitch of her finger she snapped his ring binger closed on his currently unoccupied hand, continuing on her way without watching the aftermath.

Jogging to catch up with Warren, she attempted to do so quietly to not get another scolding from their escort. Walking back alongside Warren she smiled as he looked back at where she had been standing and then looked back at her as if she had three heads.

A moment of silence passed before Warren coughed awkwardly and spoke.

"They do it just to spite you. It's abnormal for someone to like class so much."

Draven scoffed and tried to look morally offended. "They're trying to crush my school spirit!" She yelled, earning yet another stern shushing from the slender woman.

"All this talk is having an adverse affect on my self-taught education system." He said grimly.

"How so?" She played along, being solemn.

"I'm actually learning something." Draven gasped dramatically.

"Oh no! What is it?" She placed her hands over her heart in grief.

He paused and lowered his voice for dramatic effect. "That you're strange."

"Oh, damn. My secrets out then, eh, Mr ToughGuy?"

"I think it kind of came out when you said that the idea of kissing Zach reminded you of someone sticking their tongue in a socket."

"Yes, well. It's true. Besides he's one of the only ones not taken that I could say something like that about. Except for you. But that would have been taken the wrong way. Layla would have gone on a tangent." Stopping a moment to fix her boot, she looked up at him. "Honestly, I think it would have sounded too harsh and come off as if I didn't like you. As from my conclusion of you, anyway."

"This is your second day at this school and you've already come to a conclusion about me?"

"Yes."

"And you don't hate me or fear me in any way?"

"At the moment? No. You're just trying to protect your friends from harm. Believe me when I say that's the best thing you could do for them."

The slender woman in front of them coughed to gain their attention. She walked right through the principals' door and opened it from the other side.

Mrs Powers rose from behind her desk to greet them.

"Ah, Ms Crossmyr! Mr Peace! Welcome." Clasping her hands together she turned to Warren. "Mr Peace, it seems you have a detention to catch up on. Judy, could you please escort Mr Peace to the detention room until we will be in need of his services please? Thank you."

Warren rolled his eyes and followed behind Judy, as Mrs Powers closed the door behind them.

"Please, take a seat." Draven obeyed, biting her tongue to keep from saying 'no thanks, I have plenty at home.'

Powers sat back behind her desk and looked at Draven, smiling. "How are you doing?"

Draven smiled. "Just fine and dandy."

"Getting settled in your classes?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"That's great! I'm sorry I couldn't let you start your classes yesterday, but you needed power placement and to get situated."

"Oh, it's fine. I've made some pretty clever acquaintances to help me catch up."

And you have a job now, I hear." She reached into her desk and grabbed out a sheet of paper and a pen.

"Yes, at the Paper Lantern. Warren Peace hired me, actually."

"That's nice. If you could just write down the address and phone number, I'll put it in your file." Draven stared at her questioningly, taking the pen in hand. "Just in case of emergencies."

"Alright." Quickly scrawling down the information. "If that's all Mrs Powers, I would really like to make it in time for my next class. Don't want to make a reputation as the late chick." Mrs Powers wrote something down on a small piece of paper and handed it to Draven.

"Give this to Judy. It's your tour guides 'get out of jail free' card." Draven got up headed for the door, smiling to the principal as she opened it. "Detention room is just down the hall and to your left."

Taking the note and walking out the door Draven said her farewell and made her way to the detention room.


	5. Of Death and Hallway Brawls

**Of Death and Hallway Brawls **

The house was cold and empty as Draven walked into the doorway, shaking off the water from the ongoing storm outside. Her mind was still warped and exhausted from closing the Paper Lantern that night.

'I turned off the lights, right? Yeah, yeah... Oh shit, did I lock the back door? Maybe. Hopefully.' She checked her watch. '11:58. So... probably. I'm just in a paranoid state of tiredness.' Slamming the door behind her she began to strip all of her wet clothes. Placing it in a sopping pile on the floor before she opened her hall closet to get out a housecoat.

'Sometimes I hate water.' Using her powers she lifted the clothing off the floor, trying her best to catch all the water drops before they left a trail.

Upstairs she put them into the laundry machine. She flipped the light switch on, yet nothing happened.

'Oh, great.' She looked out into the dark hall and flipped the other switches in her mind.

Nothing happened.

"Fucking perfect." Going into her room she rummaged in her sock drawer for a box of matches. "Can't see worth a damn." Feeling a coarse edge of a matchbox she let out a triumphant shout, setting out on the dark adventure for candles.

For the rest of the night Draven stayed in her room. Window cracked open slightly after a hot shower, music blarring on her portable CD player. She spent most of the night sitting on her floor doing her nails.

_'Take off. Clean. File. Soak. __Polish.__Coat.'__Picking a deep shade of red.__ 'Just because I'm all big and bad doesn't mean I can't obsess over my nails!'_

The state of mind she had been in from getting home from work at close to midnight kept her up for hours. She had finally managed to fall asleep in her position on the floor, completely uncomfortable and close to falling out of her robe.

When she woke up, her neck stiff and ass sore, the sun had already risen. She looked outside groggily, waiting for her brain to start up and for things to make sense.

'What time is it?' Glancing at her alarm clock she noticed it was flashing 12:00 repeatedly. 'Oh no.'

"No, no. What time is it?!" Grabbing her watch off the bed that she had been using as a back support she focused her eyes dead straight. "6:35?!"

Jumping up off the floor she threw off her robe, and towel still wrapped around her head, and ran to her wardrobe. Tearing on a pair of grey jeans and an Oscar the Grinch shirt as fast as possible, she put on a little bit of black eyeshadow and a light amount of mascara. Running downstairs she picked up her backpack from its usual spot near the door and ran out of the house.

'Shit, I forgot to do my homework!' Anxiety filled her chest as she saw the bus almost at the stop, and she made a desperate run for it.

'Can't miss bus. How am I supposed to get to a floating school in the sky otherwise?'

The bus driver honked and signalled for her to go faster, pointing to his watch.

Finally, running up the bus steps, she paused to catch her breath.

"You're making me more late than I already am. And I, Ron Wilson, bus driver, am never late."

In between gasps of air Draven replied. "Not my problem, Wilson. Not my problem."

Sitting in her now every day seat in the back she slumped down and closed her eyes. Heaving a sigh she began to giggle.

'Wilson. HAH." Images of the volleyball from 'Cast Away' popped into her mind and morphed with the bus drivers' body. She snorted and began to laugh out loud as she pictured Tom Hanks screaming at Wilson in desperation.

Draven opened her eyes when she heard Will whisper something to Warren about her completely losing it.

Zach poked Ethan and whispered "Did I miss something?" into his ear.

Draven stopped laughing and looked at them all indirectly. Her eyes landed on Warren, his eyebrow quirked, and she realized she was still smiling.

Coughing, she forced her smile away and looked out the window.

As the bus ride went on all the conversations became a blur to Draven, her thoughts no longer absorbing the information of the others mindless chatter. Until Ethans voice cut through it all.

"...girl that died yesterday afternoon?" Draven sat up, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and stared at him.

"What happened to her?" Magenta asked.

"Struck by lightning when there was no storm."

"Oh, that's awful!" Laylas eyes were filled with sorrow.

"But there was a storm yesterday. I walked home in it." They all stared at Draven when she suddenly spoke. "It turned off all my electricity."

"Fur us there was a storm, but not two states over from us. That's why they think it was a villain. Nobody found any proof that it was natural in any way."

A look of disconcertion came across the faces of Zach, Layla, and Will.

"Well, this is going to kill the mood for most of the day." Magenta said, smiling at Draven as she chuckled.

From the time they got off the bus, right up to lunch time, things were normal as always.

Magenta seemed to be intrigued by Draven and tried to push her to talk, which ended with a guinea pig stuck in the rafters of the gym. Ethan seemed completely obsessed with the facts of the mystery murder, looking through books for other cases of such a death occurring, completely convinced that it's a villain. While Zach just walked around glowing every now and then out of nervousness, put off by everything around him. Which seemed to include Will and Laylas normal lovey-dovey selves.

Thanks to Ethans non-stop talk about the dead girl the news spread quickly. Draven was sitting at the opposite end of the "bad ass" table than Warren, reading her newest novel, when she heard the people at the table behind her mention her name.

"Yeah, so, Lash and Speed checked out this whole dead girl story thing on the computers during information retrieval class. They showed pictures and everything."

"Ew, that's gross! Who wants to see pictures of some fried dead chick?" Draven heard the sound of a light slap.

"Not from when she was dead, you twat!"

"Oh... so, was she hot? 'Cause if she was that would be like a total shame."

"I don't know. Lash said she looked like the new girl, Draven."

"Oh, okay. No, then. Too bad."

Draven glared and began to bend the spine of her book. The feel of the fresh spine cracking between her hands felt completely unsatisfying. Her hands clenched into tighter fists when she heard the rest of their criticisms.

"She has potential. Maybe if she lost a little weight, and changed her makeup and clothes."

"A little weight?"

An incredibly odd noise was heard throughout the cafeteria as Draven prepared to rip the book in half. But someone coughed from above her, breaking her attention from the girls and her death grip on her now mangled novel. Looking up to see Warren standing above her, on the brink of being really pissed off.

"Are you trying to make a fool out of me?" He spat at her.

"Excuse me?" Draven was completely baffled.

"You made me fall out of my seat. People were amused! Are you trying to make a fool out of me?" He slammed his hands down on the table, noticing the broken book.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He picked up the book and showed her it's completely misshapen self. Its pages spread like a crumpled fan in his hand and the cover was bent and torn.

"See?" He then pointed to all the stools connected to the table. They were as mangled as the book was. "If you can't control your powers when you're pissed at some preps then go lose control at someone else's table!"

She scoffed, jumped up, and grabbed his hand. Leading him back over to his regular seat.

"Do you see?" She pointed out the multiple scorch marks all around it. "New and old. Now who needs to learn how to control themselves?" Hands on her hips, locked in a glaring competition, Draven did her best to fix all the seats. Excluding the one she had been sitting on. Forcing as hard as she could to get them as flat as before.

She looked at the seats, noticing a few bumps every here and there.

"A mix of plastic and metal isn't exactly the most malleable thing in the word unless it's been heated to extremely high temperatures. So you have your options, ToughGuy. Either live with it like it is and take the seat I was sitting in, or later on you can help me put them back to normal."

Warren sat on it carefully, testing it. Hopping up and down lightly. The bell rang as he got up and stared at Draven warily.

"I guess I can live with it for now." And he walked off to head for class.

"Wait, hold up!" Draven pushed passed the crowd of people to get to Warren. "You have information retrieval class now, right?" Warren gave her a blank stare as they kept walking.

"You forgot your book." Dravens eyes went wide and her arm shot straight up in the air, where the book slammed into her from across the room, landing spine to palm. Bringing it down to face level she assessed the damage. Trying desperately to keep it closed without it fanning in some weird way.

"I've crippled it." She said completely monotone. "Well, fuck."

Walking out into the hallway Draven felt multiple eyes on her. Looking to her left she saw the two guys from her gym class, Speed and Lash, watching her. As were their little group of friends behind them, leaning against a set of lockers. One of their posy members began to giggle hysterically.

Stopping in front of the one in hysterics she stared at him coldly. Slowly he began to quiet down. Draven made as if to turn and leave but instead she turned right back at him and pretended to pounce. He snapped back in surprise and banged his head on the locker, looking momentarily frightened, then he rolled his eyes and tried to hide a look of shame. She walked away as he rubbed the back of his head, passing Speed and Lash with a smirk. Continuing on the walk to class with Warren, who was waiting for her so she wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Your father was a disgrace." Speed said loudly. Warren and Draven stopped walking, as did many other kids the in hall. The younger ones of which were filled with wonder and fear as to what could possibly happen next, as the other seniors did no more than glance and keep going. Warren turned and looked at Draven as she stood there, expressionless.

He glared at Speed, opening his mouth to say something but Dravens voice let out in a harsh whisper before he could speak.

"Watch it, Speed." She suddenly felt as though her stomach were filled with lead.

"He was a disgrace to heroes and villains, alike. He never did belong anywhere, the freak that he was." Speed and Lash walked forward menacingly. "But he belongs where he is, doesn't he, Lash?"

"Dead? Oh, yes, much better off." Draven turned slowly, hands clenched into fists. Her blood began to churn in such a way that she almost longed to see their blood on her hands. She stomped one foot forwards and was about to charge when Warrens arm wrapped around the front of her waist.

"Stop. I know they're asking for it but don't do it." The look in her eyes was one of a murderous nature, and Warren knew it well. Suddenly he found himself grasping his arm in pain. Draven has pushed his arm off her with a limited amount of pressure and force, but it was still sure to have twisted something.

"My father was an amazing man. More than you'll ever be." She snapped at them.

"Come come, now, Draven!" Lash said with a sly smirk. "Don't make the same stupid mistake your father made."

She grit her teeth together. "For my father's sake I'm not going to kill you." Releasing Warren from her telekinetic grip she turned and continued walking, pausing when she heard Speed laugh.

"Pussy." Lash mumbled.

Draven spun around in a whirlwind of fury, shoving her hand into the air sending a wave of energy towards the two. Speed and Lash went flying in the air and slammed at full force into the lockers behind them, sending their posy scattering to get out of the way. Hitting the lockers the two fell to the floor with a loud groan. A dent showed where they had hit, which made passer-byers stop and laugh.

As Warren and Draven were nearing their classroom the rage that had pent up in Dravens chest began to scream for a release. The urge to cry out was close to unbearable , and the desperation to do so almost made her cry. To Draven the mention of her father so soon was like pouring salt into an open wound. But calling him a disgrace was like replacing the salt with nitric acid.

The door to their classroom was within reach and as Draven went to turn the nob she felt Warrens hand on her shoulder. Looking back at him she refused to look into his eyes.

"I'm-... look... those guys are assholes." She smiled slightly and nodded her agreement.

"Sorry about your arm." Turning the handle the opened the door and stepped a foot inside.

"Out of curiosity," there was an obvious struggle to get the question out. "Who were your parents?" Draven smiled out of fond memories and heaved a sigh.

"They were the greatest of people." And she walked into the classroom.


	6. Long Lost Lives

Alright, so, first things first. You may see many stupid typos in my story, but that's not my fault. When I'm typing quickly I rely on my Microsoft Word to correct it for me. What's going wrong in this case? I have this new vista version of Word that only seems to be correcting names, punctuations, and... basically everything that isn't wrong.

The last thing, before my new chapter, is about why some parts may be choppy or just plain fast paced. It's final exam month. I'm writing this during free periods and in exams I've already finished. There are times I'm just so exhausted... you know how it goes.

**Long Lost Lives**

"So, Ms Crossmyr, have you gotten the hang of this class yet?"

"Yes, Mrs Magdougall. Ethan, from the hero support class, caught me up on everything."

"Very good, carry on then!" Mrs Magdougall said in her hoarse voice. Her wrinkling chins wavering as she spoke.

_"What exactly is information retrieval class?"_

_"Well, it started off as just a hero support class, but then everyone figured that the heroes needed it too. You know, for those moments they are without a sidekick."_

_"I see... so I take it our class is just like a crash course of yours?"_

_"Precisely." Ethan handed Draven a small pale green booklet. "This booklet explains how the basic computer program works."_

_"All I have to do is follow the manual and I can find information on anything?" Ethan nodded. "I thought you said this was a crash course?"_

_"It is! For hero support we also have to learn how to see the links between the information and put a lot of thought and memorization into it." _

_"I'm not sure whether or not I should be offended by that." Draven mumbled as she flipped through the manual. "So, this computer program comes standard in all mega-computers placed in the secret layers?"_

_"Yeap! Absolutely no installation required." Ethan smiled brightly at her._

_"Sweet." Draven popped a gum into her mouth, tossed one to Ethan, and walked away._

Warren was sitting down near the end of a row of computers. Across from him were the girls he had noticed were the source of Dravens rage at lunch. As he discretely eyed them, wondering what they could have said to piss her off, one of them began to speak.

"Oh my gaaawwwwd!" One of the whispered in disbelief. "Lash was right! Look! The dead girl does look like Draven!"

"That's spooky. I can barely tell the difference."

Tuning them out Warren looked around the room to find Draven. Seeing her at the other end of the classroom talking to Mrs Magdougall and reading the manual he quickly went about typing her information into the program.

'Name: Draven Crossmyr. Current occupation: n/a; student. Known school: Sky High.'

Out of the corner of his eye he kept checks on everyone in the room, making sure no one came near his computer. Most of all Draven.

Pages and pages of information came up right away, and Warren set off at a quick paced read.

Over at the teachers desk Mrs Magdougall was asking Draven a series of questions on her skills with technology.

"Well, I know the basics and I figure that's all I need to know. I'm not saying I'm techno-impaired, just that I'm not a genius at it."

"But you have worked a computer before?"

"Oh, yes, ma'am! I used to own one." Magdougall nodded.

"Very well. Open the manual and read me the first rule, please." With her manual opened and out in front of her, Draven began to read the 'rules and regulations of information retrieval class'.

"One: At no point in time will it be permitted for a student to use the program to gain any sort of information (inappropriate or other) on a fellow student/member of staff. To do so is a misuse of serious hero programming and will end in immediate punishment."

Back over on Warren's computer he had come up with something rather confusing. Dravens birth certificate.

It was a photocopy, which was normal, for the year they were born in did not yet have computer filing systems. What was weird was the way the last name was written. It looked odd somehow, as if written in a completely different manor than the rest of the certificate.

Moving on in the information he began to check out her parents.

'Susan Crossmyr. No hero/villain name recorded. Powers from sun and moon. Weakness... unknown. Active heroine 'til three months ago. Status: deceased. Death unknown.' Warren scratched his head and glanced over everyone to Draven, as she sat there still reading. Clicking on another link it brought up information on Dravens father.

'Richard Crossmyr. No hero/villain name recorded. Powers... taking electric particles out of the air and using them as willed. Inactive. Recently deceased. Death unknown.' Warren clicked for more information on the parents but there was no more to be had. Their birth certificates, yearbooks, history... everything except the basic generalization was not documented.

'Who else did she mention before? Parents... and... grandfather!' Searching for her family tree Warren researched both sets of grandparents.

'Mr and Mrs Sienich... died in a battle in Texas (1997). Can't be him.' Clicking off all the other useless links until he got to the one he needed, Warrens watchful eye of Draven became more suspicious. 'Mr and Mrs Crossmyr... Mrs Crossmyr died of old age in 2002 and Mr Crossmyr did on cancer in Calgary, Alberta (2004).'

Hearing footsteps approaching, he quickly closed the last couple windows. As he sat there, his mind began to reel.

'2004? That's not right.' He sat there glaring daggers at Draven over the crowded classroom. 'I knew you couldn't be trusted.'

Draven felt a chill as she sat there reading the last two rules, her throat getting dry and sore. She risked a glance over the classroom and, without losing her spot in the sentence, looked long enough to see Warren giving her a blood curdling glare.

She quickly finished the last couple rules of the manual, feeling completely helpless under his stare.

"Twenty-five: If it is suspected that a student has been using information from this class for illegal purposes (i.e: blackmail) said student will be suspended and banned from class for the remainder of the school year." Coughing, she glanced over at Warren before she finished and found he was no longer there.

"Twenty-six: no food or drink allowed in the room."

"Very good! Now if you could just sign here at the bottom to say that you understand..." Draven scribbled her name. "Perfect! There isn't much time left of class, but you can go on a computer if you'd like."

"Thank you, but I think I'll just read." Getting up, she pushed in her chair and collected her things off the desk. She began walking over to an empty table when her books slid out of her arms and fell to the floor with a loud 'splat'.

"Crap." She bent over to collect her books and suddenly found herself with some company. A large boot landed right beside her. As she fished up her books and stood up slowly, her eyes followed up the persons form, from foot to thigh to chest to eyes.

Draven kept in a sigh. 'He'd be one hell of a nudist.'

"Something I can help you with?"

"I need you to close again, tonight." Draven heaved an exhausted sign and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I guess I can... why can't you? Got a hot date?" She asked somewhat distractedly as she fiddled with her slipping books.

"I'm just busy. My own business."

"Alright, well, don't burn anyone down on your night out."

The bell rang and they went their separate ways for the remainder of the day.

In superhero history class Warren did less work than usual, doing nothing but staring out the window with an extremely pissed look plastered on his face. Every now and then he would emit smoke from the cuts in his sleeves.

Will took notice and leant over to him, whispering quickly while the teachers back was turned.

"Who pissed you off?"

"She lied to us." He said through clenched teeth.

"What?" Will became very concerned. "Who?"

"Draven. She lied to us." He shook his head disdainfully. "I knew she couldn't be trusted." He hissed out.

"Draven?! What the hell did she lie about?"

"When and where her grandfather died... and I'm pretty sure her last name isn't Crossmyr." He began to drum his fingers against the desk. "And she's probably lied about a whole lot more, too."

"Where did you learn this?"

"Information retrieval. And save your lecture about the rules, Stronghold. I had a hunch on this one and I went with it." Will nodded.

"But why would she? Villain?"

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out."

"Sir! Sir!" Draven screamed from the back of the English class. "Mr Follup?!"

Everyone turned and stared at her, but the teacher kept on talking about the autobiography we were going to be reading on Barron Battle.

_"Just don't tell Warren Peace." Follup begged the class nervously._

Draven screamed in aggravation and stomped up to the front of the classroom. Waving her arms in front of his face.

"Can you hear me now?" She screamed at him. "I have to go to the bathroom!"

"Couldn't this have waited, Ms Crossmyr? You're acting rather inappropriately."

"Mr Trollop, I have to PI – ISS!" She stomped towards the door, flinging the door open before she even got there.

"My name is Mr Follup, Ms Crossmyr. You do well to remember it! Since you're new I'll be lenient about your outburst, but if you leave this class right now don't come back for the rest of the period!"

Raising her hand in the air she caught her bag by the strap.

"I only had to pee, but thanks for the free period." And she walked out the door.

After going to the bathroom, Draven was caught by Powers as she meandered in the halls. Placed in the detention room with a thorough warning about bad temper and bladder control, she tried to plead with Powers before she closed the door.

"Please, not the detention room! It's so white and, and... sterile! Just send me back to Mr Follup's English class, please!! It's worse punishment to be in there, anyway." Powers nudged Draven into the room.

"Go." With such a white room it was hard for Draven not to notice a sleeping mass on one of the desks already. Squinting to figure out who it was, which proved to be very difficult in such a room, Draven figured she'd find out who it was sooner or later. She turned back to continure her argument.

"But-!" She came face to face with a slamming door. "Can't we talk about this like civilized people?!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice breaking near the end of her sentence. Leaning her head against the door, she closed her eyes.

She jumped suddenly as a voice broke the everlasting echoe of her last scream. She turned slowly to look at the owner of said voice.

"Still afraid of enclosed spaced, lil' sis?"

Glaring at the man, Draven pointed at him in a threatening fury.

"Lash, after what you did today you don't deserve to call me that." Crossing her arms she turned her back to him.

"Oh, come on. Draven you know it killed me to say that stuff about dad! But I was with Speed and the guys. They don't know about you, and that's for your own safety." He walked forward and placed his hand on her arm.

"Take it back." She whispered.

"Alright, I take it back." He said tenderly. Draven turned and looked straight into Lashs' eyes. Sorrow brimming from them, showing just how sincere he was being. "Our father was an amazing and courageous man. I would be lucky to ever turn out like him."

Tears began to form in the back of Dravens eyes and she sprung forward, wrapping her arms around him. He squeezed back tightly.

"Draven, I don't think I'm ever going to be like dad..." Confused, Draven pulled away slightly.

"Lash, what do you mean?" Lash look down, hesitant to answer. "Big brother? Does this have anything to do with where you've been all these years?"

"I-... I did a bad thing, Rave." Dravens eyebrows furrowed as Lash lead her to a seat, pulling another one closer to sit with her.

"It started in my second year here. Speed, myself, and some others were recruited by this villain planning to overthrow the whole hero empire." Dravens eyes went wide.

"You're a villain?! After all the hardwork. All the pain and suffering dad lived with fighting being a villain so he wouldn't disgrace us? So he wouldn't bring danger to us?" She rose from her seat. "And you turn into a villain?!" Lash grabbed her hand and pulled her back down.

"I tried to fight it. I just had an extreme case of momentary lapse in judgement. Look, point is that we were all caught. Royal Pain the one that recruited us, was sent to purgatory. The rest of us were sent to a villain rehabilitation camp. It didn't really work for the others, but it did for me." He swept a hand through his hair. "I just have to keep up appearances until school's out, for matters of my own safety. 'Cause Speed will kill me if he ever found out."

A knock was heard at the door of the history class and the slender woman, Judy, appeared through the door. Walking over to the teacher she handed him a paper, smiled, and walked back out the way she came.

"Mr Peace?" Warren looks up at his history teacher who was standing up in front of the classroom, hands folded together. "If you aren't too busy smouldering as you daydream, would you mind being the volunteer of the day to let the dear detentioners out of the room?"

"Why me?"

"You're the only one not doing anything, Mr Peace. I thought that if I couldn't manage to stimulate your mind that maybe I'd stimulate your legs." He held out a permission slip for Warren to take. "Would you mind?"

"Uh huh." Warren grunted as he got up out of his seat, dragging his bag along with him.

Making his way down the hall he bumped into Powers as she was heading in the opposite direction than him.

"Well, Mr Peace, what are you doing in the halls at this time?" He flashed her the permission slip. "Ah, yes. Normally I would do it, but I can't be late for a meeting I have with some students parents. Well, best be on your way." And she walked off with a smile.

Getting to the detention room door he was actually thinking that he'd rather be in the there than out in the hall. He has never let anyone out before, it was feeling extremely awkward.

Opening the door he was met with the sight of Lash and Draven sitting very close together. Lash had just kissed the top of Dravens head, and was now speaking to her softly.

"You know I love you, right?" As Draven nodded and smiled, Warren decided he should make his presence known.

Coughing loudly they both flew apart from each other, trying to make it seem as if all the distance in the world were between them.

"Time to go."

As Draven and Lash both went to exit the door at the same time Lash looked up and saw Speed waiting for him on the other side of the hall.

Shoving Draven into the wall he yelled at her "Watch it, freak!"

Forcing down a smirk, she let down a growled from the bottom of her throat and used her powers to trip him as he crossed the hall to join his friend.

She turned to Warren and grinned.

"Shall we go?"


	7. Spy High

**Spy High**

People were still coming in and out of the restaurant by the dozens when Warren left early. Giving Draven some hurried and off-handed instructions before walking out, which she barely caught over her insane multi-tasking.

"-needs water. And don't forget to turn off the back light like you did last night." Warren flipped on his jacket.

_'Oh yeah...'_ She nodded at him to show she had heard him, unable to speak due to the pen between her teeth.

"See ya." He mumbled.

"Blaader." She rolled her eyes at how incredibly stupid that sounded and continued on with her work. With every thought pre-occupied, and her back turned to the window, she didn't notice Will, Ethan, and Zach running passed in an attempt to be inconspicuous.

As Warren went out the door he signalled at the others to meet him around the corner in the alleyway. Getting there before them he leant against the only part of the wall not to be lined with garbage.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Will asked as they turned the corner.

"We need to know."

"Know WHAT, exactly?" Ethan enquired. Zach moved from being right behind Ethan to right beside him, pointing his index finger skyward as if to make a point.

"Yeah. Will didn't really tell us anything." Will stared at Warren, ready to take his cues from him. Warren sighed and ruffled his hair.

"Alright, the deal is that Crossmyr might be a villain. I don't trust her so I looked her up in Information Retrieval. All I know is that things don't seem right. Plus there's the fact that she and Lash are in a secret relationship." Zach's eyes went wide.

"LASH?! But if she's with Lash and the goons we're all doomed!"

"Which is why we need to stop whatever they're doing. She's a spy of some sort, from the looks of things." Will pitched in.

"And where do we come in?" Ethan asked, obviously intrigued in their new mission.

"Normally I'd do it myself, but... I need you guys."

"Aw, Warren. I knew you cared about us somewhere in your molten lava interior!" Zach smiled and slapped his hand down on Warren's shoulder. An awkward silence passed as Warren glared at Zach, causing him to retract his hand.

"Don't touch me." Warren said, his voice low and annoyed.

"What – umm-" Ethan coughed to break the tension. "What would you be needing us for?"

"We need to break into the school to use the computer system."

"But why not use Will's secret sanctum?" Suggested Ethan.

"Knowing my parents they'll find out what I was doing and ground me. Besides, they're only really ever gone during school hours, so..." He ended in a shrug.

"I'm only allowed in mine when I turn eighteen in a month and a half. If I'm in there without one of my parents the computer locks the place down and goes ahead with an automated ground program." Ethan said.

"I don't know where mine is yet." Zach said with a pout. The three of them looked at Warren expectedly.

"Mine was destroyed while my father was being arrested."

"So... what do we do now?" Zach twitched nervously as he noted a bit of smoke emanating from the tip of Warren's right index finger.

"Stronghold flies us up to the school. Popsicle, we need your smarts in this field. And Nightlight, we need your glow. You did pass that specialized power course last year, right?" Zach lit up the tip of his pinkie proudly.

"Yes, sir, I did."

"Good, because if you glow all at once we might get caught by the night time caretakers."

"We should get going." Will edged to the end of the alley wall to see if anyone was there. "Okay guys, come here and hold tight."

They all linked together and took off into the sky. Leaving a shocked Draven at the back entrance of the Paper Lantern.

"Well, have fun." She whispered bitterly as she dropped the garbage bags and want back inside. "While I'm stuck closing. Again."

_'I wonder where they were going. And why meet in the gross alleyway? Maybe it's a boy thing. I really didn't expect to see them when I opened that door. I wonder where they're flying off to__..'_  
Filling a glass with ice water she pondered the feeling of flight. Chugging it down she closed her eyes at the cool sensation against her overheated and exhausted insides. _'I mean, I can sort of hover. But that's not the same thing as just flying.'_

Setting the glass back down she went back to work, doing her best to look peppy and wide awake. Pinching herself subtlely whenever she would start daydreaming about having the night off.

_'I wonder what Warren is doing on his-__' _PINCH. _'No, you don't. Go back to work.'_

As Draven didn't wonder about Warren, Warren wasn't wondering about Draven.

'_I did just leave her there with all those customers__..'_ CREAK. _'I got it!'_

"Guys, I got the door open." He whispered as he pulled the pin out. "Okay, lets get one of these computers powered up."

"And hurry up. School grounds after hours is creepy."

"Oh, suck it up Zach. Ethan, you're more experienced in this than the rest of us. You do it." Will pulled the chair out for Ethan as he spoke.

They all huddled around and read as Ethan set to work.

"What is she playing at?" Zach asked, totally confused.

"I don't know. But I'm gonna ask her." Warren whispered, shoving at Ethans shoulder to draw his attention. "Print me some of this."


End file.
